Why wise people live longer ?

According to researches conducted by Becca Levy in the Ohio Longitudinal Study, one of the most surprising and significant findings is that “old people with a more positive attitude toward life would live seven and a half years longer” (Hall, 2007, para. 20). Why can this positive effect lead to better health and a longer life? This is because these older people with a positive attitude have the abilities to manage their emotions well, handle stress more properly and socialize better in society.

Firstly, the prime reason why older people with positive attitude will have better health and a longer life is because they possess an uncanny ability to regulate their emotions. These wise people are good at controlling negative emotions that might eventually lead to health crisis. For example, people who are able to regulate negative emotions such as anger, fear and anxiety would have a lower chance of facing health problems like heart disease and high blood pressure. Studies have shown that “daily measurements of the stress hormone control in people who are poor regulators of emotion follow a pattern that has been associated with poor health results” (Hall, 2007, para. 22).

Moreover, the old who possess a positive attitude toward life can handle stress better. The wisdom that has been acquired helps these people to cope with adversity calmly. For instance, when they bump into any troubles, they are able to weigh things, make necessary tradeoffs and a final decision that is suitable. In other words, they know how to solve problems systematically without putting too much stress on themselves. As we know, stress is one of the main factors that attributes to a lot of health risks, especially heart disease, which is one of the most serious killer to older people. On the other hand, people who lack this kind of wisdom will always stress themselves too much and finally suffer from health problems. Therefore, proper stress management is also a kind of wisdom that can lead to better health and a longer life.

In addition, old people with wisdom are able to socialize better in the society. For example, they can mix well with the other old people in the same residential area. Then, they might go for physical exercise together at the park everyday morning. Moreover, they can have leisure activities such as playing chess or chit-chatting together in their free time. Having a strong connection and interaction with others is a crucial part of mental health. Therefore, this wisdom helps them to nurture their relationships well and lead to healthier lifestyle, thus they can live longer and have a lower risk of suffering from diseases. In contrast, old people who cannot manage their negative emotion properly may face difficulties in socializing and interacting with the others. As a consequence, they would always end up staying in their house all the time and this is inevitably a bad lifestyle. To sum up, people with a positive attitude are able to socialize better and thus have a healthier lifestyle.

As conclusion, old people who possess a positive attitude toward life can live longer as the wisdom they acquire helps them to regulate their emotions well, socialize better, and manage stress more properly. Therefore, we should learn from these old people as this wisdom is valuable and able to help us maintain better health and a better lifestyle.

Reference:

Hall.S.S. (2007, May 8). Wisdom comes with age? Not true. The Straits Times.

Zero Waste versus Landfilling

Nowadays, zero waste and land filling are among the two waste disposal methods that can be adopted by any country to deal with the problem of increasing rubbish produced. Under the zero waste premise, all the goods available for sale from now on will be made from materials that can be easily repaired, reused or recycled (Collins, 2002). Any materials that are difficult or costly to be recycled will be designed out of the system and no longer be used. However, under the land filling policy, all the rubbish will be disposed into pits that are specially designed for the purpose of waste disposal. All the waste will then be buried by sand or soil and allowed to degrade biologically.

Another difference between zero waste and the land filling method is that the land filling method might cause land pollution. This is because the rotted organic waste that makes up the bulk of rubbish may leak from landfills and diffuses into underground water reservoirs. In contrast, zero waste method will cause only minor environmental problems as it urges all the materials that will probably cause pollution to be excluded from the system. Under the zero waste premise, all the items would no longer become pollutants after they are disposed. To sum up, zero waste disposal scheme is more suitable to be carried out in Malaysia as it will reduce the land wastage and it incurs less pollution.


Reference:

1. Collins, J. (2002, Oct 3rd). Radical plans for waste could herald a big clean-up. The Guardian Weekly. p.25.

"Green" person versus "Non-green" person

“Green” is a term often used to describe a person who is deeply concerned about environmental issues. Compared to a “non-green” person, a “green” person is more conscious about energy consumption in daily life. For instance, a “green” person will switch off the television when no one is watching a particular programme. However, a “non-green” person will be more likely to turn on the television out of habit. In addition, a “green” person always tries to use natural sources of power, such as drying the clothes on a clothesline, making use of the sun and wind power instead of using a dryer. In contrast, a “non-green” person would prefer to use a washing machine to clean the dishes rather than washing them by hands. It should be noted that washing machine consumes a lot of electricity when it is operating.

Apart from this, a “green” person always tries to reduce the use of non-recyclable materials whereas a “non-green” person usually uses resources to extent that causes wastage. This example will suffice: a “green” person will usually bring his own carrier bag when goes shopping to reduce the use of plastic bags. If the use of plastic bags is unavoidable, a “green” person will usually reuse the plastic bags. On the other hand, a “non-green” person will often ignore these methods of conservation. For example, he is not aware of the importance of recycling. As a conclusion, the supreme behavior of a “green” person should be instilled in the whole society to minimize the consumption of depleted resources.

Difficulties in Writing

One of the difficulties that I often encounter in my writing process is poor vocabulary. I always bump into situations in which I don’t know the appropriate vocabulary that should be used when I am writing essays. Vocabulary used in my writing is significantly restricted in comparison to my reading or spoken vocabulary. In addition, this is often due to concerns about spelling accuracy (may be I know how to pronounce the word but I don’t know the exact spelling of it). Therefore, there are times when the sentences or statements that are written cannot convey my ideas exactly.

Besides, I also have trouble generating ideas or elaborating on them when writing essay. Sometimes I will lack of opinion and cannot present sufficient of points in my writing. This trouble becomes worsen in writing tasks that require creativity or critical thinking.

I think the best resolution for my first problem (i.e. limited vocabulary) is to read more and learn more vocabulary. May be I can either study word lists, or sit down and read passages and look up words that I don't know. In these ways, I think I can gain a considerable vocabulary to help in my writing.

For the second problem, I think the number one tool that can help me in writing is practice. I also can try to cultivate the habits of drawing mind map or brainstorming before starting to write my essay in order to generate as much as ideas as possible. As a conclusion, I should practice more in writing to make me myself a better writer.

Air Pollution

In Malaysia, the most challenging environmental problem for the next 10 years is probably air pollution. The prime factor that contributes to this problem is the increase in amount of private cars. As the public transports system in Malaysia is still not well-developed, people will prefer to choose private vehicles as the mean of transportation and thus increases the quantity of cars on the road.

In addition, industrial areas are actively being established in the recent years. Subsequently, this will lead to the increase of air pollutants emitted in the atmosphere. If the problem of air pollution is not solved, or at least reduced, tourism of Malaysia will be greatly affected. This is because tourists surely will not go traveling in a country where the air is seriously polluted.

Moreover, air pollution is also one of the biggest threats to the survival of wildlife as the ecosystems are disturbed by air pollutants. Besides, agriculture in Malaysia will also be affected by air pollution. This is because the air pollutants will cover the leaves of the plants and then the rate of photosynthesis of the plants will be reduced.

Although other kinds of environmental problem such as water pollution also occur in Malaysia, air pollution turns out be the most severe problem. This is because there are still have adequate supply of fresh water in our country.

As a conclusion, the whole society ranging from individuals to government ought to put more efforts in combating air pollution.

What matters most in my Life ~

What matters most in life for me is my family. When I am spending time with my family, I enjoy happiness. Besides, I am confident and have a strong belief in myself because I know I belong.

There is nothing can replace the love of my family. If I fall sick, my family members are the ones that worry me the most, not the others. Whenever I meet failure, my family members will always support me and there is where I regain my confidence. No matter anything bad is happening at outside, I will still bask in the glow of love and companionship of my family.

Moreover, family is the ones that will not cause any harm to me, not even after great quarrels. When I was young, I always quarreled and fought with my younger brother (Guys are like that, just familiar with it… haha). Yet, we still have a close relationship.
We still have a strong family bond between us. We could be still quarreling for the last thirty minutes, but then play game together happily thirty minutes after.

I feel very lucky and proud that I am not coming from a broken family. I love my family, and I know that they love me too!